1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a television broadcast receiving apparatus which receives television broadcasts, a television broadcast receiving method, and a control program for the television broadcast receiving apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of retrieving a printer driver for a printer connected to a television broadcast receiving apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, broadcasting services have become increasingly widespread, and television broadcasts (hereinafter referred to as “TV broadcasts”) include satellite broadcasting systems using satellite radio waves, such as BS (Broadcasting Satellite) analog broadcasting, BS digital broadcasting, and CS (Communication Satellite: CS broadcasts are received using an antenna having less power than BS; in future, both BS and CS broadcasts will be able to be received using the same antenna) digital broadcasting; terrestrial broadcasting systems, such as terrestrial analog broadcasting and terrestrial digital broadcasting (digital television, or DTV) in the U.S. (in Japan, this service will start in 2003); and cable TV broadcasting systems via cable. As such, a multiplicity of broadcasting systems is used for TV broadcasts, in which, as analog TV broadcasting has been shifted to digital TV broadcasting, the number of multiplexed-data broadcasts has increased.
Although a multiplexed-data broadcasting system includes not only multiplexed audio data, as known in the art, but also various other types of multiplexed data, analog broadcasting services must use only a bandwidth as narrow as approximately 64 kbps, and thus broadcast a limited amount of data. On the other hand, data broadcasting services in the BS digital broadcasting system can use a wide bandwidth ranging from 1.5 Mbps to 2 Mbps, thereby providing multiplexed-data broadcasts with moving picture and audio data carried thereon, which has not previously been achieved. For example, a user is simply required to press a remote controller button during a program on the TV in order to view recipes on another screen or on a portion of the screen during a cooking program, or to view the cast in a drama.
In order to receive BS digital broadcasts, a user must have a BS tuner. Plug-and-play capability enables the BS tuner to recognize a device which is connected to a TV monitor or a video via an IEEE 1394 interface, called i.LINK (trademark of Sony Corporation), and to set the system configuration accordingly.
With the growth of data broadcasting, it may be contemplated in the future that when a data broadcast having multiplexed print content is delivered from a broadcast station, a user at the receiver side need only press a remote controller button during a TV program in order to perform an operation which allows the content to be printed from a user's printer. In this case, the printer should be connected to the BS tuner, but there is currently no BS tuner capable of interfacing with a printer.
On the other hand, there is a tuner (called a set-top box) for Web TV, etc., which can access the Internet to allow a user to browse Internet content. The set-top box for Web TV has a serial interface which can interface with a printer. However, the set-top box has such a small memory area that only a simple printer driver can be installed, which can support only Web-TV-supported printers. Thus, there is a problem in that general printers for personal computers, which have become widespread recently as the popularity of personal computers has increased, cannot be used, and users who have purchased a PC printer must purchase a new Web TV printer, thus increasing the financial burden on the users.
In future, the system configuration may be contemplated such that a BS tuner or a set-top box provided with a large-capacity memory, such as a hard disk, in which a printer driver is stored to allow a user to use various kinds of printers. However, with the rapid advancement of software, if the same printer is used with the most up-to-date printer driver, the print quality or performance will increase. It is thus necessary to update the printer driver. On the other hand, manufacturers or sellers of BS tuners or set-top boxes also have a problem in that incorporating a printer driver which might not be used by all users within a tuner or a set-top box at the factory will disadvantageously complicate the production process and increase the production cost.
Furthermore, recently, as the number of companies which develop printers has increased, and the number of types of printers has increased, it is bothersome for a user to recognize the printer connected to a tuner or a set-top box and to prepare and install a printer driver which supports that printer. Installation of an incorrect printer driver may result in incorrect printing operation. Therefore, there is a need for providing a system which can be conveniently used by users.